The Darkness Within

The Darkness Within

Chapter 1: Potions and Girls

As Tuesday morning dawned, Harry Potter lay peacefully sleeping in his large four-poster bed in the Gryffindor sixth year boys' dormitory. Then, the sleeping wasn't so peaceful anymore, as suddenly the warmness receded and he opened his eyes to discover his best friend Ron standing at the foot of his bed, an evil grin on his face and Harry's blanket in his hands.

"Uuumh, Ron! What's the big idea ... lemme sleep a little longer ..." Harry mumbled into his pillow.

"Time to get up, Harry. We have ten minutes to get to breakfast! Come on, hurry up!" Ron practically shouted in his ear, or so Harry thought in his sleepy daze. Harry stood up and strolled into the bathroom to have a quick shower, before going down to the common room with Ron. Being as late as they were, the boys found the room empty, as the students of Gryffindor House had already left for breakfast on their first day of school. Harry and Ron walked into the Great Hall and sat next to Hermione on their usual spots - as far as possible from the Slytherin table, which was next to theirs - and started piling breakfast on their plates.

"Morning, Harry, Ron," said Hermione over the large volume she was currently reading. "Sleep well?"

"Morning," came the reply from both boys sitting on either side of her as the amount of food on their plates kept decreasing. A few minutes passed in silence; then Professor McGonagall could be seen leaving the teachers' table and coming towards her house with a stack of papers in her hand.

"Oh, look," pointed out Hermione. "Professor McGonagall is giving out our schedules. You know, I wrote to her in the summer and asked if I could take Advanced Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. Usually, it's one or the other, you can't take both. But I though they are both useful and as I don't know for certain yet what I want to do after leaving school ..." she trailed off as Professor McGonagall reached them and handed the three teenagers their timetables. Ron took a pause from stuffing food in his mouth to look at his.

"Oh, sh -"

"Ron, language! You're a prefect, you must be on exemplary behaviour for the younger students," huffed Hermione.

"Sorry, Hermione," said Ron, "but look at your schedule! The first lesson of the year, Potions. I mean, it couldn't get any worse, could it?"

"Oh, don't be such a baby, Ron. It's NEWT level Potions. I'm sure Professor Snape will behave in an appropriate manner. Only students he accepted will be in the class, so I'm sure he won't pick on you. Besides, advanced potions ..."

"Advanced poisons, you mean."

"... are really interesting," concluded Hermione.

Harry chipped in, "Yeah, Ron. I'm sure Professor Snape won't try to poison you ..."

Hermione interrupted, "See, Ron, Harry can be mature about this. Why can't you?"

"... if he'll try to poison anyone, it'll be me. So, my friend, as long as you see me alive and breathing in potions, you are totally safe."

Hermione stared at them for a moment, then stood up and muttered, "Boys!" She picked up her book-bag and made her way out of the Great Hall towards the dungeon staircase.

"What's the matter with her?" said Ron, looking at Harry confusedly.

"I have absolutely no idea, Ron," Harry said, managing to keep a straight face.

The boys stood up and followed the route to Potions class that their female friend had taken moments before. They reached the classroom, and went in to discover only six two-people desks in it. The boys spied Hermione sitting alone at one of the front desks and made their way over to sit at the desk behind her. However, before they managed to sit down, Snape swept into the classroom in a cloud of billowing black robes.

"Welcome to NEWT Potions," he said. "Some of you here are expected students with a talent for potions." Snape glanced at Draco Malfoy while saying that. "Others have barely scraped in, and I expect a lot of hard work from you. And some people ... apparently have friends in high places," he concluded, looking rather pointedly at Harry.

"Since there are obviously very different skill levels represented here, I have paired you up for the remainder of the year. Weaker students with stronger ones. By the time of your NEWT exams at the end of your seventh year, I expect you all to be able to pass. Now, the list of pairs is on my table. I'm sure nobody will have a problem with it," he sneered. "You may be seated."

The students crowded around the teacher's desk at the front of the classroom. A sigh of relief could be heard as Ron discovered that he was paired with Hermione.

"Well, mate, I guess that proves I'm not so good in potions. Who did you get?"

Harry looked down the list and groaned. "Malfoy."

"Ouch, tough luck, mate."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Take your seats and take out your potions supplies," Snape commanded. Harry made his way to the desk, which was next to Hermione and Ron's, and sat down. A moment later, the blond-haired Slytherin settled down on the chair next to him.

"Potter," he hissed, "I don't know why I'm stuck with you ... but don't you dare mess up. I excel in Potions and I intend to keep it that way."

Harry decided not to even grace him with an answer and set to the task of unpacking his potions ingredients. The rest of the lesson passed in relative quiet, with Harry losing only ten points from Gryffindor for disturbing his lab partner by coughing.

When the class was over, the three Gryffindor sixth years in NEWT Potions made their way out of the dungeons, Hermione apparently having forgiven them their behaviour at breakfast. Harry and Ron took off towards Trelawney's tower for Divination, while Hermione went to her Ancient Runes class.

After lunch, the Gryffindors had Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid. The Trio walked down the snaking path to Hagrid's hut while discussing the lessons they had had so far, with a few choice words about Snape's choice of lab partners.

When they reached the hut, the teenagers saw that just like the rest of NEWT level classes, this lesson also had the four houses grouped together. Being an easy class, it meant that the entire front yard of Hagrid's hut was filled with students.

"All righ', people," Hagrid said, "welcome to Advanced Care of Magical Creatures. Today we are startin' with gremlins. I see there are so many of you, you migh' want to pair up so tha' each pair has one creature to look afte'."

The students started looking around for a friend to pair up with.

"Right, then. Harry, you're with me," said Hermione in a no-nonsense tone. "I'm partnered with Ron in Potions, it's only fair." Harry nodded and, after seeing that Ron had paired off with Neville, walked with Hermione towards the paddock where the cages with gremlins were kept.

Some time into the lesson, Hagrid allowed the students to open the cages in order to try to communicate with their gremlins. Suddenly, a loud shriek could be heard as Neville Longbottom got bitten in the hand by the little creature entrusted to his and Ron's care. To the sound of laughter and degrading comments from the Slytherins, Ron offered to accompany Neville to the hospital wing to have his hand looked at. The two boys left and, as the lesson drew to an end, so did everybody else; but Harry and Hermione decided to stay a while longer to talk to Hagrid, as it was the last lesson of the day. Even after graciously consuming some of Hagrid's rock cakes with their tea, they didn't manage to weasel out of him what the Order had been up to all summer. They figured some progress must have been made in the fight, with the acknowledgement of Voldemort's return after Sirius Black's death at the Department of Mysteries the previous spring. When Hermione mentioned Sirius's name Harry got very quiet and she took it as her cue to leave.

The teenagers said their goodbyes to Hagrid, and started up the path towards the castle when Hermione slowed down and said, "Harry, have you talked to anybody about what happened? I mean what happened to Sirius at the Ministry."

Harry sighed. "I know what you mean, Hermione. And yes, I talked to Dumbledore about it."

"Did you? I mean really talked about it, because you should ... you know ... so you could say goodbye."

"Thank you, Hermione, but I don't want to talk about it right now. And I have said goodbye. I saw him die! There can't be any unresolved issues there, I know he is dead and gone and that's it." Harry's voice had started rising in pitch.

"All right, if you're sure," Hermione backed off, and the rest of the walk to the castle was silent.

Later, after dinner, Harry was sitting in the common room in the armchair farthest from the fire, with an opened Potions textbook in his hands, and staring off to space. The talk with Hermione had set his mind wondering about Sirius again and, consecutively, the Prophecy. He went to bed that evening with a heavy heart, and woke up several times during the night from the dreadful nightmares he had been having all summer.

A few weeks later found him sitting in the common room, again staring off to space, when the commotion near the portrait hole caught his attention and he made his way over to see what the fuss was about.

In the immediate vicinity of the portrait hole, a highly agitated Neville Longbottom was arguing with the fifth-year male prefect about something. Through the opened portrait, Harry could see Luna Lovegood standing just outside the entrance.

"What's going on here?" he asked.

Neville looked relieved at his arrival. "Harry! Would you please tell Jim that Luna can come in our common room. It's not like she's spying on us or anything, we just want to spend some time together."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "We? Neville, is there something you'd like to tell us?"

The prefect chose that minute to intervene. "This is the Gryffindor common room. No other houses allowed, girlfriend or not."

Harry rounded on the prefect. "Well, Luna just happens to be a personal friend of myself, as well as the future Head Girl, and both of the Weasley prefects. You want to take it up with them?"

The young prefect recognised a lost battle and retreated from the portrait hole to allow Luna entrance to the common room.

"So ... girlfriend, eh? Congratulations, Neville, Luna. When did that happen?" asked Harry, as he accompanied the couple to the corner couch by the windows.

"After the Ministry, Luna and I ... we started writing to each other and then visiting in the summer ... and ... eventually, you know ..." Neville trailed off as he and Luna settled into a couch.

Harry left the couple to their own devices and retreated to his usual chair. As the evening went on, the common room grew quiet as the students left for their dormitories for the night. Harry was getting up to leave himself, when he noticed Ginny Weasley looking at him from the girls' staircase. He remembered the blushing incident on the train, and groaned inwardly as Ginny made her way through the common room to stand next to him.

"Hi Harry," she said. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing right now," Harry answered. "Why?"

"I just thought we could talk. You know, we've barely exchanged a couple of sentences since school began ..."

"Yeah, I guess we've both been kind of busy."

"But you're not busy right now, are you?" said Ginny, while settling on the side of his armchair. "We could talk about Neville and Luna. Did you know they were dating?"

"No, I first heard about it today."

"It's nice though ... they both had the courage to admit they liked each other," she said suggestively, and looked straight into the eyes of the now panicking boy. Harry tried to get up from the chair, avoiding her eyes, but he couldn't just brush off her hand that he realised was covering his own by now.

He looked up. "Ginny, I -"

She quieted him by trailing her fingers through his messy dark hair and forcing the boy to face her. Time seemed to freeze as he saw her face coming closer and closer. He gulped. She was so beautiful. So close that he could smell her hair, count every freckle around her deep amber eyes. Touch the perfect pink lips. He closed his eyes, feeling his mind fogging, instincts taking over reason, and pressed his lips to hers.

Time started moving again. He was sitting in the common room with Ginny Weasley in his arms, kissing her. Kissing her? He sat up abruptly and let go of her, the sixteen-year-old boy in him protesting the sudden loss of warm female flesh.

"I'm sorry ..." he got out. "Oh God, I'm sorry, Ginny. I didn't mean to do that."

The red-haired girl looked up at him. There was hurt in her eyes, and she said quietly, "You don't like me that way, do you?"

Harry looked at her with the same feeling of loss in his eyes. He shook his head. "No, I don't ..." The words were coming faster now, "I thought that maybe ... maybe I did. But when I kissed you ... It felt like -"

"Kissing a brother," said Ginny. "Or a sister, in your case," she added with a twinkle returning to her bright brown eyes.

"Yeah, like a little sister."

Ginny smiled and said mischievously, "Well, I guess the perfect fairy tale wedding I've pictured since I was five won't have a green-eyed groom anymore."

Harry smiled in answer. "Guess not, but you're welcome to an extra brother, to scowl at and threaten the possible groom, just to ensure he'll make you happy."

"Great!" she cried. "Just my luck. To be born with six overprotective brothers ... and then acquire an honorary one on the way!"

Harry laughed with her, happy to be included in a family. Together they left the common room for their respective dormitories.

Neither noticed that one of the armchairs by the fire had been occupied during their encounter and the talk that followed it. The girl in that armchair leaned back, watching the retreating backs of the friends, and stared into the flames with a small smile tugging at her lips.

... to be continued ...